Oderint, dum metuant
by Merlyn
Summary: Voldemort is gaining more power and more followers by the day. Hogwarts is perhaps the only safe haven left, but Hogwarts has been betrayed. Set during Harry, Ron and Hermione's final year. Someone is not going to live to see the end of the year.
1. Prologue

'Harry Potter' © 1997 to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, all rights reserved ****

'Harry Potter' © 1997 to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, all rights reserved. Infringement of copyright acknowledged.

****

Oderint, dum metuant

Prologue 

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He was not quite sure where his legs were carrying him, all he was certain of, was that he was in the dark labyrinth under the towers. He paused for a moment, taking long deep breaths.

Was he safe? Well, of course he was not, but he could afford to rest for a minute… Or could he?

Strong footsteps and a clank of metal from the direction he had run from was enough to convince him that he was _not _safe taking a rest. Carefully, he started to run again. He was running for his life.

Suddenly a hand seized his throat and he was slammed forcibly backwards into the hard stone wall. He felt the impact. He felt the stone through his thin shirt. He was going to die.

The man who had hold of him let go and stepped back slowly. He looked up and down the corridors before taking out a wand.

"This will teach you to run from me."

No. This was not going to happen, he was not going to let it happen! 

The wand pointed at the fallen man, and then was raised. "Good bye, Severus!"

A blinding light filled the dark tunnel. All that could be heard was the painful screaming of a man dying.


	2. Chapter One

'Harry Potter' © 1997 to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, all rights reserved ****

'Harry Potter' © 1997 to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, all rights reserved. Infringement of copyright acknowledged.

In memory of everyone killed in the U.S.A during the recent horrors.

****

Oderint, dum metuant

Chapter One

Professor Albus Dumbledore looked gravely down at his staff; each knew, or knew something, of the events of recent. Many were in shock; others were showing signs of strong disbelief. 

"My friends, it pains me to tell you this," he began. "But we," he leaned forward, looking each man or woman directly in the eye. "We, have been betrayed." A sudden whispering filled the room, bouncing off the wooden walls. Dumbledore stood calmly, waiting for the whispering to subside. "Friends, we must now pull even closer together. Our security has been undermined, and the Auror's and myself will do our very best to find the man, or woman, who has betrayed us. The betrayer will be dealt with accordingly."

"What about Severus?" Someone asked.

"Severus, well, we still haven't had word from him. The Auror's are looking for him, we can only hope that he has not come to harm. It is possible, that he is lying low somewhere." Dumbledore looked tired, he looked old, but most of all, he looked worried.

"Albus, term starts again a few days, we can't possibly open the school, after what's happened." Professor Minerva McGonagall voiced the silent opinions of the staff. Her voice of reason was subdued.

"In this time of need, Hogwarts is to remain open. Hogwarts is many people's only chance and _our _only chance. This year will be more vital than any other year for the students, and the rest of the magical world. We have an opportunity to train young witches and wizards in our ancient arts and skills. Never has there been more a time when we have needed them. Hopefully, Voldemort will not take so many of our students into his ranks this time."

"But without Severus, the Slytherin's…"

"Minerva." Dumbledore's tone silenced her. "Severus _will _be back before the start of term, I have no doubt of that."

"If we don't know where he is, how can you be sure he will be back?!" Professor Sinistra called angrily. 

"I have every faith in Severus' abilities. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are also looking for him. They will find him, or Severus will return for hiding."

"Albus, we can't even be sure Severus is still alive."

"He is alive."


	3. Chapter Two

'Harry Potter' © 1997 to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, all rights reserved ****

'Harry Potter' © 1997 to **Joanne Kathleen Rowling**, all rights reserved. Infringement of copyright acknowledged.

****

Oderint, dum metuant

Chapter Two

It was Monday morning at Privet Drive. It was early, and so the only people who were awake at this time were Harry, the milkman, the birds and Dudley's pet chinchilla. Dudley had been given the chinchilla as a present for getting 3Cs and 2 Ds in his GCSE results. Harry could hardly see what was special about his fat cousin only passing five of nine GCSEs, but then, his aunt and uncle awarded Dudley for whatever he did. 

Glancing at the clock, he saw he only had four more hours until the taxi his uncle had ordered to take him to Kings cross station arrived. Uncle Vernon had not done this out of the goodness of his heart, oh no, Harry had to pay for the taxi out of his own money. His godfather, Sirius Black, had made sure that Harry had some Muggle money for the holidays. 

Starting to perhaps feel a little nervous, after all it _was _his last year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, and he knew that his aunt and uncle would not want Harry at the home once he returned. Harry was now eighteen years old, and stood at around 6ft 1. He still was not sure what he could do with his 10 OWLS, Hermione had passed all fifteen of hers, and Ron had passed eleven. 

It wasn't that Harry hadn't _worked_ at his OWLS, it was more of a "he had been unconscious in the hospital wing" one day and therefore missing several important exams which he could not take at a later date. Dumbledore had tried to re-arrange the exams Harry had missed, but the Magical Education Committee would not have it.

Looking at the clock again, Harry wished that he were staying at the Weasley's house for the summer holidays. Again the Weasley's had tried to talk Dumbledore into letting him stay, and again they had been told that he was safest with his aunt and uncle.

He could not wait for his final year at Hogwarts, but also he did not want to leave. What was he to do once he left? He did not know much about the wizarding world, despite the fact he'd been part of it for almost seven years now, he was not quite sure on the job options available to him. 

Harry sat reflecting on his life at Privet Drive, secretly he was very grateful for all his aunt and uncle had done for him, taking him in, feeding him, giving him clothes and shelter, but he doubted he could ever tell them that.

"Boy! If you want some breakfast, you'd better get down here pronto!" Came uncle Vernon's deep, booming voice. Harry sighed and got off his bed. It was just another day, apart from in just under 3 hours time, he, Harry Potter, was going to leave the Dursley's house for ever. His school trunk held all his personal possessions from his time at the Dursely's. 

"About time, to boy." Uncle Vernon said as Harry sat down at the kitchen table.

"Morning." Harry replied.

There was quiet whilst he ate his breakfast.

Uncle Vernon cleared his throat, "Harry, your aunt and I were wondering if you are planning to come back this year from your _freak _school?"

"No, I'm not planning on coming back." Harry replied with a definite tone. "So you can give Dudley back his second bedroom."

"That wasn't the reason I asked, boy."

Harry was starting to get a strange feeling about this, could it possibly be that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were _interested _in what he planned for the future?

"Why then?" He saw Uncle Vernon's face turn red with barely controlled rage; 'don't ask questions' was the number one rule in the Dursely's house if you wanted a peaceful existence. 

"Because we're going to move house." He knew it had been too good to be true.

"Oh."

"Are you all packed for that school of yours?"

"Yes."

"Dudley, go and help Harry with his trunk. We don't want to delay the taxi driver when he arrives. The estate agent is coming shortly after." 

Vernon gave his enormous son a warning look, which sent him _and _Harry out of the room in silence to fetch the trunk down. Harry suspected that his uncle was making Dudley help him as a punishment for failing to get on any college or sixth form course. That didn't matter though, they were going to pay a private tutor to tutor Dudley through his A-Levels. 

Two hours later, Harry was sitting in the back of the taxi on his way to Kings Cross station to catch the Hogwarts Express for one of the last times.


	4. Chapter Three

'Harry Potter' © 1997 to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, all rights reserved ****

'Harry Potter' © 1997 to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, all rights reserved. Infringement of copyright acknowledged.

****

Oderint, dum metuant

Chapter Three

"Have you heard from Severus yet?" Professor Minerva McGonagall asked the headmaster gently.

"No. I haven't." He replied, sounding distant.

"Albus, maybe we ought to start fearing the worst…"

"Minerva, unless we have evidence to suggest that Severus Snape is dead then until that moment he is officially considered alive."

"Aye… Who's going to teach Potions until he… returns?"

"That is a problem I've not really thought about… I suppose, Remus could, but it would be hard on him giving him _two _classes to teach." Dumbledore looked up. "You've got good Potions qualifications…"

"Out of the question." She said briskly.

"Minerva, it would only be for a month at least."

"But who would take my Transfiguration class? I'm sorry, Albus, it's quite out of the question."

"Minera, you're forgetting that I once _was _the Transfiguration teacher here at Hogwarts, and, after all, it's what my _degree _is in."

McGonagall could see she was beaten. "Oh all right, Albus. This is just until Severus returns mind you, if he _never _returns I will _not _be teaching Potions full time!"

"I doubt anyone could replace Severus' Potions brewing talents." Dumbledore was again distant.

"Albus, you do know that there can't be a chance that he's alive. He's never _not _reported back before."

"Minerva, Severus is alive."

"Do you truly believe that? In your heart?"

There was a thick silence. "I can't give up hope, Minerva. He can't be dead, at the very most he's injured and needs our help, but I can't believe that he would be dead. He's too clever, too powerful to allow that."

"But in your heart, Albus?"

"I want to keep on thinking he's alive, but I can't… I don't want him to be dead, but I know he can't possibly be alive." Dumbledore hung his head and gave the impression of a man in a great turmoil. The weather outside echoed Dumbledore's mood. Bleak and downcast.

McGonagall placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"We can't give up home," Dumbledore continued. "Even if he is dead, we can't just _leave _his body wherever it is."

"Shush, say no more Albus."

"Am I such an old fool I can't let go?"

"No, the contrary Albus. You're not giving up, and that's good. If he is alive, they'll find him."

"We can't be sure, we can't be sure."


	5. Chapter Four

'Harry Potter' © 1997 to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, all rights reserved ****

'Harry Potter' © 1997 to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, all rights reserved. Infringement of copyright acknowledged.

****

Oderint, dum metuant

Chapter Four

Harry arrived at King's Cross station, paid the taxi driver, and made his way onto the platform. People stared at him as he entered, to be honest, he'd never really noticed the staring eyes, but carrying a trunk, and an owl in a cage must have looked pretty odd. 

Putting the staring eyes out of his mind, he set off at a brisk trot towards the ticket barrier that would take him onto platform 93/4. This would probably be the final time he would do this, if felt strange, he could remember exactly seven years ago standing on platform 9 wondering how to get onto the platform. It seemed so normal now.

He arrived on the other side and was immediately greeted by a tall girl with a mass of brown bushy hair. "Harry!" She said as she almost crushed his ribs with a bear like hug.

Harry grinned and pulled himself free. "Hi, Hermione." She had all ready changed into her billowing black school robes; the 'head girl' badge gleamed in the sunlight. "Do you know who the head boy is?"

"No, at least not yet. Hopefully it won't be that idiot Draco Malfoy."

Harry shrugged, "he might not be so bad this year."

"Why?"

"Dunno, just a feeling I've got."

"HARRY! HERMIONE!" They both spun round at the sound of a distinctly familiar voice. A very tall young man, with a shock of ginger hair met them, bounded over. This was Harry's best friend Ron Weasley; he was the second youngest and the second last to be leaving Hogwarts. Ginny followed him through and then disappeared into the crowd to find her own friends. 

"RON!" Both Harry and Hermione cried.

Harry grinned as Ron embraced each of them in turn. "How've you been! I'm sorry I couldn't write during the hols." He apologised, "but with what's been happening recently, dad wouldn't let me write in case I 'compromised security' or something like that."

Harry laughed, "it's okay Ron."

A gleam of light from Hermione's badge caught Ron's eye. "Hey look at you, head girl eh?" 

"Yup!" Hemione puffed herself up proudly. "Any idea as to who the head boy is?"

"Nah, knowing our luck it will be that slimy git Malfoy."

"Yeah…" Harry looked at his feet. "How are Fred and George getting on?" Fred and George, Ron's older twin brothers, had originally been intending to set up a joke shop but after the events of last year they had abandoned the idea and had joined the fight against Voldemort.

"They seem fine, they've been sending regular owls back but obviously they can't say much about where they are or what's happening." Ron replied.

"What do they do?" Hermione asked curiously. She knew they were part of the Ministry of Magic defence squad, but as to what they actually did, she didn't know. Neither did Harry if he was honest.

"Fred's now a sergeant in the Front Line Defence unit, and George is assistant Chief Medical Officer for Reserves. Neither have seen much action yet as the FLD hasn't been called in yet, and George said he's only been treating colds at the moment."

"Harry! Ron! Hermione!" The looked round and saw Neville Longbottom, a forgetful, but very intelligent boy running towards them. "Guess what! Guess what!"

"What?" The three friends asked.

"Look," Neville straightened himself to his full height and there, pinned proudly on his chest was the head boy's badge. 

"WELL DONE!" They chorused, and Hermione gave him a hug.

"Congratulations Neville!"

Neville grinned, "gran was dead proud when I got the letter and badge from Dumbledore, and," he lowered his voice, "I even got a note of congratulations from Snape!"

"Bet Dumbledore made him write it."

"Don't think so, Ron, the letter came about a week after I got my badge, it came in the Muggle post."

"Odd."

"Yeah."

"Come on, let's get some good seats on the train! We've got tons to tell each other and we don't want first years or anyone listening in!"

* * *

They pulled the trunks into an empty compartment towards the back of the train and sat down to talk.

"Have you heard from Padfoot?" Ron asked, aware that Neville was in the compartment.

"No, but no news is good news… I hope." Harry shrugged. "Remus is coming back to teach Defence though."

Ron grinned, "I bet Snape is going to be pleased."

Hermione looked thoughtfully out of the window; "last year I really got the impression that Snape wasn't after the job, and that he was just suspicious of the defence teachers."

"Eh?"

"You know when I got a detention with Snape last year? Well, he told me to sit in silence and not to disturb him as he had work to do. He was making some potions for the hospital wing. I'm telling you, I have _never _seen someone as skilled making potions before."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want the Defence job."

"The impression I got was that he loves potions and wouldn't give it up for the world, if he got the Defence job he would _have _to give it up, wouldn't he? I don't think Snape would do that." 

"Lupin must be really brave to come back to teach, after Snape told everyone that he was a werewolf." Neville said, changing the conversation dramatically. It was no secret that Neville fear Snape, and the conversation was no doubt making him feel uncomfortable. 

"Yeah, but he's the best Defence teacher Hogwarts has ever had and it must be hard for Dumbledore to find a good teacher." Harry replied.

"Hogwarts _needs _a good teacher, Defence is probably going to be _the _most important subject this year."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, staring out of the window or staring at the floor. No one quite knew what to say, nearly everyone knew that Voldemort was getting stronger and that it was getting harder to defend against the curses.

"Well, well, well." The looked up at the sound of Draco Malfoy's posh, boring drawl. "If it isn't Potty, Weasel, and his two reject friends, mudblood and squib." Malfoy sneered down his nose at Neville, "how did _you _get to be head boy? Hogwarts is really going down hill."

"Shove off Malfoy." Harry snapped. "Face it, you weren't good enough to be the head boy."

Malfoy sneered and gave Harry a hateful look. "You'll _pay _for that, Potter, you wait, just you wait!" With that he left the compartment.


End file.
